Refrigeration Device With A Drawer

ABSTRACT

A refrigeration device includes a storage area which is delimited by a body and a door and which is subdivided by a shelf into an upper and a lower compartment. A drawer is accommodated in the lower compartment. In a stop position of the drawer in which it is pushed into the lower compartment, a front wall of the drawer bears against a front edge of the shelf. A closure element can be moved across a passage or opening in the shelf between a position which blocks the passage and a position which opens the passage over at least part of its cross section.

The present invention relates to a refrigeration device, in particular a household refrigeration device, which is particularly suitable for storing refrigerated goods which are susceptible to drying out. Fresh food such as fruit, vegetables, salads or fresh herbs release moisture into their surroundings until an equilibrium has been reached between them and the ambient air. Moisture that these types of food release into the air in a storage chamber of a refrigeration device generally condenses after a short time on an evaporator that cools the storage chamber, such that the humidity never reaches a saturation level. Hence the foods continuously release moisture, dry out quickly and become unsightly.

From WO 2013 186 128 A1 a household refrigeration device is known, in which a cover is suspended from a shelf subdividing the storage area and which in the closed position rests on a drawer, forming a tight fit. By way of closable openings of the cover a user can adjust the strength of the exchange of air between the interior of the drawer and the surrounding storage area.

Although this design enables precise control of the exchange of air between the drawer and the surrounding storage area and in particular a good air-tight separation between drawer and storage area, it is however also to some degree complex and costly in implementation, such that it has prevailed only in refrigeration devices in the upper price range. In order also to provide a storage area with controllable humidity in low-cost refrigeration devices, a simpler, more inexpensive design is required.

The object of the present invention is to specify such a design.

The object is achieved in that in the case of a refrigeration device with a storage area which is delimited by a body and a door, wherein the storage area is subdivided by a shelf into an upper and a lower compartment and a drawer is accommodated in the lower compartment, in a stop position of the drawer in which it is pushed into the lower compartment a front wall of the drawer bears against a front edge of the shelf, the shelf has a passage, and a closure element can be moved between a position blocking the passage and a position opening the passage over at least part of its cross-section. Since in the stop position the front wall of the drawer bears against the front edge of the shelf or the stop position is actually defined by the abutment of the front wall on the edge of the shelf, an exchange of air between the interior of the drawer and its surroundings is ruled out in the stop position, at least along the front wall. This type of seal may be sufficient in itself, if the front wall in the stop position closes the lower compartment accommodating the drawer; if this is not the case, other solutions which are described in greater detail below are provided for preventing the exchange of air along the side walls of the drawer. Mounting the passage in the shelf renders superfluous a lid for the drawer as a component separate from the shelf.

To be easily accessible for a user, the passage is preferably arranged adjacent to the front edge of the shelf.

If in a manner known per se the shelf comprises a frame and a plate bordered by the frame, the passage is preferably recessed from the frame.

As a closure element which does not impede any other use of the drawer, a slide that moves in the plane of the passage is preferably provided.

Such a slide can be composed of two elements, one of which in each case forms a top wall and the other a lower side wall of a groove, into which the plate or a web of the frame engages, in order to guide the displacement movement of the slide between the position blocking the passage and the open position.

The frame can in particular have a web provided with openings, the openings of which form the part of the cross-section of the passage which is exposed in the open position, and which lies opposite one edge of the plate, such that the slide can be displaced between the position blocking the passages of the web and an open position, in which parts of the slide protrude onto the plate.

In order to prevent an exchange of air between the interior of the drawer by way of gaps between the shelf and the upper edges of the side walls of the drawer, attachment wall elements can be detachably mounted on side walls of the drawer.

Instead of the attachment wall elements that move with the drawer when it is pulled out, side wall elements suspended from the shelf can also be provided, which in the pushed-in stop position of the drawer seal its side walls.

Preferably the side wall elements are connected to one another via a rear wall element. The rear wall element can on the one hand serve to fix the side wall elements in respect of one another, and to ensure that in the pushed-in stop position both simultaneously seal the upper edges of the side walls; it can however also itself exhibit a sealing function between a rear wall of the drawer and the shelf.

Preferably the upper edges of the side walls of the drawer and if appropriate also the rear wall form sealing surfaces which in the pushed-in stop position bear on the suspended side and/or rear wall elements. If the side walls and where appropriate the rear wall of the drawer are braced by webs angled along their upper edges, the tops of said webs can in particular serve as sealing surfaces.

The side wall elements can be suspended from the shelf with vertical play, in order to equalize any manufacturing tolerances.

Expediently the side wall elements can then each at their upper edge have a flange facing the shelf which, by forming a narrow gap together with the shelf, cannot completely prevent the exchange of air between the interior of the drawer and the surrounding storage area, but can at least severely restrict it.

The restricted exchange of air between the interior of the drawer and its surroundings can mean that condensation forms when the humidity in the drawer is high. To make it harder for the condensate to come into contact with refrigerated goods stored in the drawer, the drawer can have an elevated floor plate, at the deepest points of which condensate can collect, while higher points lying in between protect the refrigerated goods and keep them away from the condensate. Locally deepest points of the floor plate are preferably adjacent to the walls of the drawer, firstly because such points are that much more difficult for the refrigerated goods to reach, the closer they lie to the walls, and secondly because the condensate overwhelmingly forms on the walls of the drawer.

Further features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description of exemplary embodiments provided below, with reference to the attached figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic partial section through a household refrigeration device according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a shelf used in the household refrigeration device from FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a section through a slide used on the shelf from FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a passage of the shelf with the slide in a position blocking the passage, partially in perspective view and partially in section;

FIG. 5 shows a view analogous to FIG. 4 which shows the slide in a position opening the passage;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic section through the front edge region of the shelf and the drawer in a pushed-in stop position, in which the front wall of the drawer touches the front edge of the shelf;

FIG. 7 shows an exploded perspective view of the drawer;

FIG. 8 shows a detail of the drawer from FIG. 7 in side view;

FIG. 9 shows the detail from FIG. 8 with a mounted attachment wall element;

FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of a sealing frame provided for attachment to the shelf;

FIG. 11 shows the shelf from FIG. 2 with a suspended sealing frame;

FIG. 12 shows a detail of a side wall element of the sealing frame in perspective view; and

FIG. 13 shows a section through a rear wall element of the sealing frame in a position sealing the drawer.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic section through a household refrigeration device, with a body 1 and a door 2 which surround a refrigerated storage area 3. A shelf 4 subdivides the storage area 3 into an upper compartment 5 and a lower compartment 6. An evaporation chamber 7 is directly connected to the lower compartment 6 via a channel 8, such that by means of an intensive feed of cold air from the evaporation chamber 7 in the lower compartment 6 a lower temperature can be maintained than in the upper compartment 5.

A drawer 9 is accommodated in the lower compartment 6. Gaps 10 between the drawer 9 and the walls of the compartment 6 enable a free circulation of cold air around the drawer 9.

The drawer 9 has a front wall 11 which protrudes above side walls 12 and rear wall 13 and in the pushed-in stop position of the drawer 9 shown closely touches a front edge of the compartment 4. The side walls 12 have upper edges 14 sloping downward toward the rear wall 13. Attachment wall elements 15 mounted on said upper edges extend as far as immediately below the shelf 4.

FIG. 2 shows the shelf 4 in a perspective view. It comprises a plate 16 made of safety glass, which is bounded by an extruded frame 17 made of plastic. A front profile 18 bordering the front edge of the plate 16 is wider than the side profile 19 and a rear profile 20 of the frame and provides space for a passage 21, which in the illustration in FIG. 2 is closed by a slide 22 that moves in the depth direction.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, the slide 22 is composed of an upper and a lower element 23, 24. Base plates 25, 26 of the elements 23, 24 are kept apart in a central region by spacers 27, such that a peripheral groove 28 is formed along their edges. The elements 23, 24 are fixed to one another by latching hooks 29 which protrude from one of the base plates 25, 26 and engage in slots 30 of the other base plate.

FIG. 4 shows the slide 22 in the position closing the passage 21 partly in a perspective view, and partly in section. A web 31 of the front frame profile 18 and the front edge of the plate 16 engage on respectively opposing sides into the groove 28 of the slide 22. The plate 16 does not extend as far as a base of the groove 28, such that the slide 22, guided by a web 32 of the profile 18 which is shown by a dashed line in FIG. 4 and which engages on a narrow side of the slide 22 into the groove 28, can be moved from the position in FIG. 4 into a position shown in FIG. 5, in which the web 31 is largely exposed and an exchange of air is possible via openings 33 of the web 31 between the upper compartment 5 and the interior of the drawer 9 arranged above the shelf and hence moisture can escape from the drawer 9. The magnitude of the exchange of air can be controlled by a user, by selecting a position of the slide 22 between the two extreme positions in FIGS. 4 and 5, in which the openings 33 are more or less extensively concealed.

In order to minimize an exchange of air between the interior of the drawer 9 and its surroundings that cannot be controlled by the user, a seal is provided between the front edge of the shelf 4 and the front wall 11 of the drawer 9. As shown in FIG. 6, this seal can be designed as a flexible lip 34 on the front edge of the shelf 4, which is pressed into contact with the rear side of the front wall 11; alternatively such a seal could also be attached to the rear side of the front wall 11.

FIG. 7 shows the structure of the drawer 9 in greater detail in an exploded perspective view. A base part 35 formed integrally from plastic forms the base plate 36, the side walls 12 and the rear wall 13 of the drawer 9. Along their upper edges 14, 37 the walls 12, 13 are reinforced by webs 38 projecting outward.

The front wall 11 manufactured from transparent plastic is latched onto the base part 35. The base plate 36 which is partially visable through the front wall 11 has an elevation in the form of a ribbed central plateau 40 surrounded by a trench 39 extending as far as the base of the walls 11, 12, 13. Condensate that precipitates on the walls can collect in the trench 39, such that refrigerated goods lying on the ribs of the central plateau are protected against the penetration of moisture.

The side walls 12 attain their greatest height directly at their front end; along a large part of their length they run a few centimeters deeper, at a considerable distance from the shelf 4, such that they prevent an intensive exchange of air between the drawer 9 and its surroundings. If refrigerated goods which are susceptible to drying out are to be accommodated in the drawer 9, it is expedient to close these passages with the help of the attachment wall elements 15. The attachment wall elements 15 are plastic plates molded as complementary to the course of the upper edges 14, 37 of side and rear wall 12, 13 and provided on their lower edges with hooks 41 for latching onto the webs 38 of the walls 12, 13. To enable a detachable anchoring of the hooks 41, the webs 38 are, as shown in a side view of a rear upper corner of the drawer 9 in FIG. 8, in each case provided on part of their length with downwardly protruding ribs 42.

FIG. 9 shows, in a view analogous to FIG. 8, the attachment wall element 15 mounted on the drawer 9. The hooks 41, with which the attachment wall element 15 is clamped to side and rear wall 12, 37 extend along the edges 14, 38 of the walls 12, 37 in each case over a length of a few centimeters and thanks to a longitudinal slot 43 can be elastically deformed, such that a latching lug 44 which is molded on a part of the hook 41 lying underneath the longitudinal slot 43 can be elastically deflected to be in contact with the rib 42 and, as illustrated in FIG. 9, can latch behind the rib 42, in order to fix the attachment wall element 15 in form-locking manner.

FIG. 10 shows in perspective view a sealing frame 45 which is provided instead of the attachment wall elements described above for sealing the intermediate space between the upper edges of side and rear wall 12, 37 and shelf 4. The sealing frame comprises two side wall elements 46, the lower edges of which are molded complementary to the course of the upper edges 14 of the side walls 12 like those of the attachment wall elements 40 in FIG. 7. The side wall elements 46 are connected to one another by a rear wall element 47. In order to create space for this rear wall element 47, the rear wall 37 of the drawer 9 of the region 48 shown in FIG. 7 projecting over the rear ends of the side walls 12 is omitted in this embodiment, and instead the upper edge of the rear wall 13 runs horizontally between the corners.

Horizontally outward projecting flanges 49 are molded on the upper edges of the side wall and rear wall elements 46, 47, and along their upper edges flanges 50 project horizontally inward. Hooks 51 project along the upper edge of the rear wall element 47, which, as shown in FIG. 11, are provided to encompass a rib 52 projecting on the rear profile 20 of the shelf 4 and hence to anchor the sealing frame 45 in a suspended manner on the shelf 4.

Adjacent their front ends the side wall elements 46 in each case have a pin 53 shown in FIG. 12 in an enlarged view which engages with play into a tab 54 projecting downward from its side profile 19.

As is apparent from the sectional illustration in FIG. 13, the engagement of the hooks 51 on the rib 52 of the shelf 4 also has slight play in the vertical direction, such that if, when the drawer 9 is pushed in, the upper edges 14 of the side walls 12 hit against the flange 49 of the sealing frame 45 prior to reaching the stop position, the sealing frame 45 can divert upward. In order to prevent this type of swerving movement, a gap 55 between the sealing frame 45 and the shelf 4 must be open providing the sealing frame 45 hangs free and without contact with the drawer 9 on the shelf 4, said shelf 4, if the drawer 9 is located in the stop position, normally narrowing as a result of lifting the sealing frame 45, but not being completely closed. Thanks to the flange 50 on the top of the sealing frame 45 the path which air must traverse in this gap 55 in order to be exchanged between the interior of the drawer 9 and the surroundings thereof must be considerably lengthened and accordingly the exchange of air is so greatly restricted by the gap 55 that the climate in the drawer 9 can be controlled by the position of the slide 22.

REFERENCE CHARACTERS

1 Body

2 Door

3 Storage area

4 Shelf

5 Upper compartment

6 Lower compartment

7 Evaporation chamber

8 Channel

9 Drawer

10 Gap

11 Front wall

12 Side wall

13 Rear wall

14 Upper edge

15 Attachment wall element

16 Plate

17 Frame

18 Front profile

19 Side profile

20 Rear profile

21 Passage

22 Slide

23 Upper element

24 Lower element

25 Base plate

26 Base plate

27 Spacer

28 Groove

29 Latching hook

30 Slot

31 Web

32 Web

33 Opening

34 Lip

35 Base part

36 Base plate

37 Upper edge

38 Web

39 Trench

40 Plateau

41 Hook

42 Rib

43 Longitudinal slot

44 Latching lug

45 Sealing frame

46 Side wall element

47 Rear wall element

48 Region

49 Flange

50 Flange

51 Hook

52 Rib

53 Pin

54 Tab

55 Gap 

1-14 (canceled)
 15. A refrigeration device, comprising: a body and a door delimiting a storage area; a shelf subdividing said storage area into an upper compartment and a lower compartment, said shelf having a front edge and a passage with a cross-section; a drawer accommodated in said lower compartment, said drawer configured to be pushed into said lower compartment in a stop position, said drawer having a front wall bearing against said front edge of said shelf in said stop position; and a closure element being movable between a position blocking said passage and a position opening said passage over at least part of said cross-section of said passage.
 16. The refrigeration device according to claim 15, wherein said passage is disposed adjacent said front edge of said shelf.
 17. The refrigeration device according to claim 15, wherein said shelf includes a frame and a plate bounded by said frame, and said passage is recessed from said frame.
 18. The refrigeration device according to claim 15, wherein said passage is disposed in a plane, and said closure element is a slide being movable in said plane of said passage.
 19. The refrigeration device according to claim 17, wherein: said slide includes two elements, one of said elements forms an upper side wall and the other of said elements forms a lower side wall of a groove; said frame has a web; and said plate or said web is engaged in said groove.
 20. The refrigeration device according to claim 19, wherein said plate has an edge, said web of said frame is disposed opposite said edge of said plate, and said web has openings forming a part of said cross-section of said passage being exposed in said open position of said passage.
 21. The refrigeration device according to claim 15, wherein said drawer has side walls, and attachment wall elements are detachably mounted on said side walls of said drawer.
 22. The refrigeration device according to claim 15, wherein said drawer has side walls, and side wall elements are suspended from said shelf and seal said side walls of said drawer in said pushed-in stop position.
 23. The refrigeration device according to claim 22, which further comprises a rear wall element interconnecting said side wall elements.
 24. The refrigeration device according to claim 22, wherein said side walls of said drawer have upper edges forming sealing surfaces bearing on said suspended side wall elements in said pushed-in stop position.
 25. The refrigeration device according to claim 22, wherein said side wall elements are suspended from said shelf with vertical play.
 26. The refrigeration device according to claim 25, wherein said side wall elements have a flange with an upper edge facing said shelf.
 27. The refrigeration device according to claim 15, wherein said drawer has an elevated base plate.
 28. The refrigeration device according to claim 27, wherein said drawer has side walls and a rear wall, and said base plate has locally deepest points adjacent said front, side and rear walls of said drawer. 